Raising means and method of raising cigarettes from a cigarette package



Feb. 11,, 1964 A A. LA CHIUSA 3,120,904

RAISING MEANS AND METHOD OF RAISING CIGARETTES FROM A CIGARETTE PACKAGEFiled Sept. 26, 1960 United States Patent 3,120,904 RAHSIN G MEANS ANDMETHOD OF RAISING CIGARETTES FROM A CIGARETTE PACKAGE Arturo Alfredo LaChiusa, 210 W. 7th St.,. Los Angeles 14, Calif. Filed Sept. 26, 1960,Ser. No. 58,469 2 Claims. (Cl. 221-1) The present invention has for itsobject the provision of a pliable support to be placed in the bottom ofa package of cigarettes, or other products, to raise and hold suchcontents upwards through an opening in the package.

Up to the present time, the common packaging for cigarettes or othersimilar products has been generally in the form of parallelepiped boxesenclosed by parallelepiped shaped envelopes closed for protection with aspecial ribbon for opening the envelope. Such packages require severaloperations, although simple and ordinary to extract the contents.

The present device, according to the invention, simplifies theoperations for removing cigarettes and the like from opened packages andis characterized essentially by a pliable support, formed by a pliabletape and three plates arranged in such a manner that they lie generallyadjacent to each other. The plates are so arranged with an adaptableadhesive tape to form the support that it is able to easily raise andhold upwards the contents of a package when it is placed within and atthe bottom of the package.

To summarize, the pliable support is comprised of an adhesive tape onwhich are adjacently placed three plates so that they can be pivoted andredoubled among themselves into several forms, in order to obtain by alongitudinal lateral finger pressure on the external surfaces of thepackage, an ascending movement of the device relative to itsdisplacement and according to the form in which said plates will havebeen redoubled.

Therefore, the purpose of said pliable support is to facilitate thetaking or otfering of cigarettes or other products contained in apackage.

In an exemplary embodiment of the pliable support, according to thepresent invention, the device comprises three plates adjacently placedover an adhesive tape, said tape being capable of folding to pivot theplates and to redouble upon itself in the form of a Z. By folding thethree plates coated by said tape into a generally fiat Z shape, alongitudinal lateral finger push on the right side applies pressure tothe device effecting an ascending movement in order to raise and holdupwards the contents of the package.

In at alternative embodiment, three plates are placed on an adhesivetape, in accordance with the present invention, but the tape becomesredoubled in a manner opposite to the above described embodiment. Then alongitudinal lateral finger pressure on the left side of the packagetransmits an ascending movement to the device to push and raise and holdthe contents upwards the contents.

In another alternative embodiment, three plates are placed on anadhesive tape, but the tape becomes redoubled in a manner equal to theabove described embodiments at both extreme sides to arrange the platessuch that a longitudinal lateral finger pressure transmits an ascendingmovement to the device capable of pushing parallel to the base andthereby raise and hold upwards the contents of the package.

ice

In another variant, two plates may be placed on an adhesive tape. Alongitudinal lateral finger pressure transmits an ascending movementcapable to raise and hold upwards the contents of the package, thedevice presenting itself at a right angle wtih respect to the base.

According to the above described first exemplary embodiment and thesecond and third alteratives following it the contents of the package,after the finger pressure has been applied, is presented in eachembodiment respectively, in a right ascending ladder, in a leftascending ladder and parallel to the base.

The invention will now be described in detail in relation to a form ofexecution, given only for a preferred example, with reference being madeto the accompanying drawing in which:

The FIG. 1 shows, in natural scale, an assembly view of an exemplarypliable support, according to the present invention, in longitudinalsection in which is visible the plates placed on the adhesive tapebefore being redoubled.

The P168. 2 and 3 represent, in nearly true scale and in perspectiveview, the pliable support redoubled, respectively in flat or unelevatedand elevated position.

The FIGS. 4 and 5 represent, in the same scale and in the same view, analternative exemplary embodiment of the pliable support so abovedescribed and respectively in static unelevated and elevated position.

The FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9 show other alternative exemplary embodimentsaccording to the above disclosure, the FIG. 10 shows an opened packagewith the pliable support placed inside and at the bottom.

With reference to the accompanying drawing, at 1 there is indicated theplates adhered to the tape 2 redoubled in the form of a Z in a manner toconstitute the pliable support, according to one of the forms ofexecution of the present invention. At 3 is the point and thelongitudinal spot where the finger pressure must be applied, and at 4 isshown the surfaces so elevated.

An exemplary embodiment having been described, the method ofconstruction of the pliable support, as conceived according to thepresent invention, can be briefly summarized:

First the length of the tape 2 may be determined according to the sizeof the bottom of the package and the redoubling desired, relative to oneof the forms de scribed. Using an adaptable adhesive and pliablematerial, the plates 1 are then adhered to the tape more or lessadjacent, being opportunely long or short and in such quantity so as tobe able to be redoubled with the tape in the forms represented in theFIGS. 2, 4, 6, or 8.

Though an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, withthe alternatives, given only for example, it is intended, that inpractice there can be chosen numerous other alternatives, withoutdeviating from the spirit or the conception of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A pliable support to be placed in the bottom of a cigarette packageor the like to raise and hold upwards cigarettes and like products fromwithin said package, comprising:

a plurality of plates and an adhesive tape,

said plates being placed longitudinally and adjacently on said tape andsaid tape and plates being folded and redoubled upon themselves into agenerally Z shape wherein lateral finger pressure on the externallongitudinal bottom ends of said package causes an 3 ascending movementof said cigarettes of an amount proportionate to the displacement of thesupport.

2. A method of raising and holding cigarettes and like products fromWithin a cigarette package or the like comprising the steps of:

placing a plurality of generally flat plates on a continuous band ofadhesive tape; folding said tape and plates to form a redoubled array oftape coated plates in a staggered vertical array;

placing said array within a cigarette package or the like at the bottomto be under the cigarettes or like products filling said package; and

applying finger pressure to longitudinal bottom ends of said package tocause a vertical ascending of said array.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A PLIABLE SUPPORT TO BE PLACED IN THE BOTTOM OF A CIGARETTE PACKAGE OR THE LIKE TO RAISE AND HOLD UPWARDS CIGARETTES AND LIKE PRODUCTS FROM WITHIN SAID PACKAGE, COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF PLATES AND AN ADHESIVE TAPE, SAID PLATES BEING PLACED LONGITUDINALLY AND ADJACENTLY ON SAID TAPE AND SAID TAPE AND PLATES BEING FOLDED AND REBOUBLED UPON THEMSELVES INTO A GENERALLY Z SHAPE WHEREIN LATERAL FINGER PRESSURE ON THE EXTERNAL LONGITUDINAL BOTTOM ENDS OF SAID PACKAGE CAUSES AN ASCENDING MOVEMENT OF SAID CIGARETTES OF AN AMOUNT PROPORTIONATE TO THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE SUPPORT. 